In the banking industry, communication has evolved from the use of verbal and paper transactions such as mailings and facsimile transmittals to electronic transactions between participants. Electronic transactions generally improve the security of communications between parties. While both paper and electronically transmitted information can be misdirected, the electronically transmitted information can be sent with enhanced security measures such that only an intended recipient is able to access the information.
In response to the preference and appreciation for electronic transactions, various electronic technologies have been developed to disseminate banking information. One such technology is “Push Banking”. A method and system for push banking are fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,855, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Push banking systems attempt to address the problems clients encounter with traditional electronic transactions that often involve searching through enormous amounts of electronic information available on the Internet. In traditional systems or “pull” systems, clients operate a search engine or other technology to request information from a central system. In some instances, clients may install an automated pull system which periodically automatically searches available information electronically without client intervention. However, such automated systems may be inflexible and despite being automated, may require client maintenance and modification.
Thus, due to the problems for clients inherent in traditional pull banking systems, push banking systems have evolved. In a true push model, the central system sends information to the client, thus requiring considerably less client effort and generally requiring no customized client software. A true push banking system, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,855 provides client data without client prompting and entirely at the client's convenience. While such a system provides superior service to the client, it also creates additional burdens for an information distributor. These burdens relate to the sending of large volumes of information and providing security to protect the information.
In many cases, the information distributor may be a large banking institution that has information clients such as traders, investment banking clients, and account holders. These information clients may also be sizable organizations that have a large number of employees or participants who are the ultimate information recipients. Only a select group of information recipients or in some instances only one information recipient may be permitted to view information pushed by the information distributor. Thus in many instances, the information distributor may have additional responsibility for properly directing, encrypting, or otherwise securing transmitted information.
Additionally, in the exchange of sensitive electronic information such as banking information, maintaining the security and integrity of distributed information can be critical. Current push systems are unable to trace the pushed information to determine whether the usage and location of the information is authorized. Furthermore, minimal security mechanisms have been provided for maintaining the security and integrity of pulled information.
In order to enable more secure and efficient transmission of sensitive information, a solution is needed that allows an information distributor to provide improved access to information without the burden of pushing all of the information to clients and ultimate recipients. A solution is further needed that directs entitled parties to available banking information in a secure and prompt manner. Additionally, a solution is needed for ensuring that information is used only for acceptable purposes and is accessed only by authorized parties.